Old Time Religion (1986)

This 1986 gospel album features Willie on guitar and vocals, Bobbie on piano, Bee Spears on bass, Freddy Fletcher on drums, and Mickey Raphael on harmonica. It opens with a bouncy, upbeat rendition of “Just a Little Walk with Jesus.” Mickey’s harmonica and Willie’s guitar work shine, but I can tell from the start that this won’t be as raw as Willie’s 1996 gospel album, “How Great Thou Art.” It will be interesting to compare Willie’s four gospel albums side by side. “I’d Rather Have Jesus” is a more melancholy gospel tune, but Willie strains to hit some of the higher notes. Bobbie’s piano meanders along searchingly with Mickey’s harmonica. “I’d rather have Jesus than world wide fame; I’d rather be true to his holy name, than to be a king of a vast domain, or be held in sin’s dread sway; I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.” I wonder at what level Willie means this song. “Where the Soul Never Dies” clearly appeals to Willie’s desire to capture time. This may be the first song I have heard where Willie is singing harmony with himself. He should do this more often. Willie’s obsession with time slipping away should lead him naturally to the gospel focus on eternity. I’ll need to think more about the connections between Willie’s obsession with “always” and “forever” in his secular songs and his gospel albums focused on eternity. In “The Lily of the Valley” Willie claims, “He all my grief has taken and all my sorrows born.” It is interesting to look at that verse side by side with some of Willie’s crying songs. What can it mean if Jesus has taken all Willie’s grief and born all his sorrows? What then of his many tears? Again I’m mindful of connections between “I’ll Fly Away” and “On the Road Again.” I’m fond of this version of “I’ll Fly Away.” Again, Willie appears to be singing harmony with himself, which I love. He should experiment more with that. In “Are You Washed in the Blood” Willie clearly pronounces “washed” as “warshed.” Every once in awhile you hear a revealing pronunciation like that in one of his songs. In so many ways Willie is an everyman, a transcender of genres and labels and accents, but at times his parochialism, his locality, his Arkansas/Texas roots show through. I hear Willie’s vocals on harmonies again on this track. Another very accomplished gospel performance, but not as tender and moving as the tracks on “How Great Thou Art.” “Where He Leads Me” clocks in at 5:06, the longest track on this album. “I’ll go with him through the garden. I’ll go with him all the way. Where he leads me I will follow.” What a different way to hit the road. The way the disciples hit the road, dropped everything to follow Jesus, as opposed to dropping everything to hit the road for the sake of the road. Movement for the sake of movement. Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road.” Or Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road.” Willie seems to have followed no one in his life. He has been such an individual. It is hard to picture him being led, being a follower. “Old Time Religion” is another bouncy, up-tempo romp of a gospel tune. Very pleasant but less angsty and tortured than “Spirit” or “How Great Thou Art.” 1986 is pre-IRS troubles, and maybe this is a gospel album when things were going well for Willie (the mountain top), and 1996 was a gospel album from the valley. “Revive Us Again” also hearkens back to a past experience, a memory of when times were better, when our walk with Jesus was closer. In Remembrance of Things Past could be seen as a gospel novel, a secular revival. “Sweet Bye & Bye” and “When We All Get to Heaven” both contribute to the theme of time, the past, the future, memory, eternity. Whether it is a secular album or a spiritual one, Willie is always looking forward or looking back, or looking forward to looking back. Sweet memories or sweet bye and bye. “In the sweet bye and bye we shall meet on that beautiful shore.” When, when, when? That is Willie’s perpetual question. “When We All Get to Heaven.” I went back and listened to some of “Gospel Favorites” from 1980, and that one’s growing on me. I found it a bit rough the first time around, and my wife almost made me move out when I started playing it in the kitchen. Looking back I see that my blog on that album from February was lame. I think I need to give that album a more thorough listen and song-by-song treatment, in light of his other gospel albums, including The Troublemaker. I also went back and listened to “Spirit” today. Still my number one Willie album if I have to pick one. Have I mentioned the most profound criticism to date of Willie’s work? My son said the other day about a version of one of Willie’s songs: “I don’t like this version as much, or maybe I like it better.” Only Willie could provoke such a reaction. Sometimes you can’t tell if you like it more or less. I love that.